


Yellow and pink

by candles_to_stars



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: AU in which your hair changes colour based on your emotions, Adorable Alec Lightwood, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista Magnus Bane, First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-09-13 05:33:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9108649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candles_to_stars/pseuds/candles_to_stars
Summary: The great thing about your hair always showing your emotions was that everyone could see how you felt.The worst thing about your hair always showing your emotions was that everyone could see how you felt.Alec wanders into a coffee shop only to come face to face with the most gorgeous barista one would ever lay eyes on.





	1. Chapter 1

Sometimes, a perfectly ordinary day gets turned around like a bottle being spun by a group of teenagers at a party – all so drunk the bottle almost flies off the table before it slowly comes to a stop. Not that Alec has ever been to such a party. Nor has he ever been drunk. He’d drank three shots at his little sister’s birthday party, and spent the next two hours afraid for throwing up.

Today started off as normal as possible. Alec’s hair had its normal black colour which it always returned to whenever he was simply calm, content, relaxed. He’d spent most of the day behind his laptop, finishing off some coursework and enjoying the Christmas songs that’d started playing over the radio a few days ago. It wasn’t really all that cold outside just yet, but despite that, everyone seemed to be in the Christmas spirit already.

Which – coincidentally – was also the only reason Alec had ever left the house. Isabelle – his baby sister – had called and begged him to come with her on her Christmas shopping. And let’s get one thing straight: Alec _hated_ shopping. Shopping for clothes, Christmas shopping, buying presents. _Shopping._

Isabelle, however, loved shopping, and she refused to give up. She was adamant on getting her brother out of his flat and into the world, always dragging him with her to get coffee, to go to a party, to help her carry her bags from shop to shop like she had today. When he arrived, her hair was the vibrant yellow of someone genuinely happy, growing lighter and lighter as the day progressed and she acquired more and more bags. 

The great thing about your hair always showing your emotions was that everyone could see how you felt.  
The worst thing about your hair always showing your emotions was that everyone could see how you felt. 

It was great when you were like Isabelle, giddy and happy, exited over everything and liked by everyone. It was less great when you were Alec, steadily getting more and more cranky the longer he was amongst others, almost always nervous, irritated or anxious.   
By the end of the afternoon, his hair was steadily getting a deeper hue of purple, displaying his irritation until Isabelle finally gave up and let him go his own way. His feet hurt, he was tired of all the walking they’d done and the evening cold was creeping up on him, so when he passed by a little café on his way back to the subway, he didn’t hesitate to duck inside so he could get himself something warm for along the way. 

He only realised he was a little out of his depth when he looked up at the board and saw about forty different choices of coffee and tea. Gaping up, he took in everything from melya to something calles kopi susu, and mint chai tea to ginger and honey hot chocolate. 

Desperately scanning the board for something familiar, he didn’t realize it was his turn until someone cleared their throat in front of him.   
He looked back down, and immediately felt his face heat up. A blush rose from the back of his neck to his cheeks, and within seconds, the single lock of hair that’d flopped in front of his face had changed from a confused pale orange to bright pink.

The guy behind the counter was _gorgeous_. Drop dead, featured in fashion magazines and porn gorgeous. People like that didn’t stand behind the counter of a coffee shop in New York, they stood on a red carpet before thousands of cameras. High cheekbones, caramel skin, slanting eyes, full lips. His hair was slowly taking on an amused yellowish- green colour as his golden eyes took Alec in, and he knew he probably looked like an idiot, but he couldn’t stop staring. 

By the time he realized the guy had said something, he’d already ceased talking. 

‘I’m sorry, can you please repeat that?’ His hair was now turning darker with embarrassment, and he could only think of how he wished he’d put on his beany before leaving the flat. 

‘I asked how I could help you today,’ the other boy repeated as he leaned on the counter, closer to Alec and – damnit, he even had a nice voice; rich and soft and melodious. 

‘I- Uhm… Do you have any black coffee?’ Alec asked, ducking his shoulders and scratching at the back of his head, eyes flitting down to the floor before shooting back up at his unfairly attractive barista. 

‘For you we do,’ hot-barista-guy answered with a smile so wide that it seemed to split open his face, his hair growing just a tiny bit more yellow and – o my god, _he winked at me!?_ Alec’s face grew even more red, burning up from embarrassment and _what was happening here?_ Things like this didn’t happen to Alec. They happened to people like Izzy, and Jace. Attractive, confident people. Not people like Alec. 

‘What name can I put on it?’

‘Uhm… A-Alec.’

‘Coming right up, Alexander.’ And there it was again, that smile. And Alec couldn’t even say his name without stuttering and his hair was awful, his infatuation clear for literally everyone in the café to see. If there was ever a time for a hole to swallow him whole, now was it. 

The moment Alec’s name was called by the tiny redhead at the other end of the counter, he grabbed his drink and rushed out of the café, desperate to get away from all the prying eyes, only murmuring a quick goodbye to the guy and girl behind the counter. 

It wasn’t until his embarrassment had almost worn off in the subway that he noticed what was written on his cup.

_Dear Alec, call me. Love, Magnus_

His hair stayed yellow and pink for the reminder of the way home.


	2. Chapter 2

‘Catarina, darling. I am in love.’ Magnus flopped down on his bright blue couch, holding his phone to his chest so he would be sure not to miss any messages or calls. Upon holding it up to check for any missed messages anyway, he could see his hair was as yellow as it had ever been. It clashed horribly with the rest of his outfit, but he couldn't be brought to care. The colour was all due to _Alexander_. The pretty boy from the coffee shop, with hair as brightly pink as some of Magnus’ yoga pants. He’d said his name was Alec, but the barista suspected it was short for Alexander. He liked the name Alexander.

He could hear footsteps, so he tilted his head back to watch Catarina - his oldest friend and housemate - stepping out of the kitchen, holding a cup of tea close to her chest. She took exactly one look at him, saw his dopey grin and yellow hair before she heaved a sigh, her hair changing from a curious orange to a darker, resigned blue.

‘Magnus, are you sure of this? Please remember what happened to each of your relationships after Camille.’

‘This is different, Cat. It's a boy,’ he confessed, and he let out a small giggle before laughing for real. Catarina of course did have a point. Over a year ago, he'd broken up with his girlfriend of three years, Camille Belcourt. He'd discovered she had been cheating on him for almost the entire time they'd been together, and spent two days locked up in his room, crying and eating nothing but ice cream. 

After those two days however, he'd decided not to let this break him. He refused to spend the rest of his life pining after Camille, afraid of falling for someone again out of fear he'd have his heart broken once more. He refused to give that bitch the satisfaction.

So he'd jumped head first into relationships with every girl that caught his attention. They all had something in common though. Something Catarina had pointed out to him not even a month ago because she couldn't bear seeing it and not doing anything anymore. She always chided him for falling too fast for them, but he couldn’t help it, it was who he was. Just like he couldn’t help what he’d been after the last year.  
They all reminded him of Camille in some way.

It wasn't that he went looking for it, just that after a few dates, he'd notice the way one's blonde hair fell over her shoulders. The sway in her hips because she always wore heels. The last girl he'd dated had the exact same French accent, even though she told Magnus she’d lived in New York all her life.  
Not... Alexander. Alec was new, and fresh, and in no way resembled that blonde soul sucker.

"His name is Alexander," Magnus smiled, and he looked back up at his friend, who was looming over him. 

‘Alexander?’

‘Well, Alec. But I like to think it’s short for Alexander.’ Cat’s hair grew red highlights in front of his eyes. 

‘Let me guess. You met this boy once and have never actually talked to him?’ 

‘Excuse you? We exchanged at least ten words.’ Ten perfect words. The pale girl sighed, but a small smile gazed her lips as she sat down in the chair positioned next to the couch. Magnus’ heart swelled in his throat, a grin threatening to split his face as he thought of the cute boy in the shop.

‘He has blue eyes. And his hair grew totally pink when he saw me. It was so cute, Cat!’ She laughed softly. 

‘Is he tall?’ 

‘He is,’ Magnus sighed, dreamily staring at the wall. ‘Taller than me.’ People weren’t often taller than Magnus, and he had certainly never dated anyone who fell into that select group. 

It was in that exact second that his phone vibrated on his chest. 

_Hey Magnus, it’s Alec_

‘It’s him!’ Magnus shot up from where he laid, adding the number to his contacts and tapping the picture Alec had put up on the app. In it, he was brightly smiling next to a girl who looked so much like him she could only be his sister. Both of them sported cheerful, yellow hair in the photo, and he couldn’t help but swoon over the radiating smile he wore. 

A loud laugh pulled him out of his thoughts, and he looked up only to see Catarina laughing into her tea.

‘I can see you like this boy,’ she commented, pointing up at his hair. Quickly looking over at the mirror hanging behind them, Magnus saw his hair had shifted from yellow to pink in the blink of an eye. There was no way she could mistake this for anything other than complete infatuation. God, he didn’t even know his last name and he was acting like an smitten schoolgirl. 

Gabbing a blanket from the arm of the couch, he pulled it over his head, hiding most of his face along with his hair.

‘You would too if you saw him,’ he grinned from under his shell, thrusting out his phone so she could have a look at Alec for herself. She took it and looked at the picture for all but two seconds.

‘He is pretty cute.’ Pretty cute. The picture lit up the whole room. His eyes crinkled from his wide smile. He couldn’t blame Catarina all too much though. She and Ragnor had been together for forever, making her blind to anyone else’s attractiveness. 

_Hello Alexander_ , he sent back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm most probably also gonna write this chapter from Alec's POV. I hope you all liked this, I tried to stay in character as much as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Alec was blushing so red he would've put a tomato to shame. This date was one big disaster. Why did he ever agree to this? His eyes were glued to the table and he was pulling at the edge of his beany down in a desperate effort to hide his dull, red hair. Not that it had the desired effect, as whips and curls were still poking out from beneath the edge, and either way, Magnus could surely see his shame burned on his cheeks and neck.

‘Please, don't be like that, Alexander. I thought it was cute.’ A hand stretched out over the small table between the two of them, settling on his elbow in an effort to sooth him, but Alec refused to believe what Magnus'd said.

‘Magnus. There is nothing, absolutely nothing cute about trying our coffee and then proceeding to spit half of it back out over the table.’

Magnus laughed at his words, and Alec looked up so he could glare at the other boy.

‘Stop laughing at me.’

‘O, Alexander, I am sorry. You are just too adorable. I couldn't stop myself.  
For the record though, it really was cute. The way your face scrunched up and your eyes crinkled. I don't care about the spilled coffee.’

He was mortified. The other boy obviously didn't mind, but all Alec could think about was the stain he'd caused on Magnus' white skinny jeans and the god-awful taste of something that in his humble opinion couldn't be described as coffee on his tongue. He didn’t care much about Magnus’ reassurance or the fact that his hair was very obviously yellow, and not the deep purple of someone irritated. 

With a groan, Alec dropped his head on the table, wishing for the ground to open up and just swallow him whole. 

‘It’s okay, you know. You don’t have to try and make me feel better here. You can just go home and leave me here to die.’

‘Alexander, that is atrocious. I would never let someone as handsome as you die! Especially not in a dreary café as this.’

The taller boy looked up from where he was trying to morph into the wood of the table. His mind had snatched on the word _handsome_ , but when he opened his mouth, what came out was: ‘Why do you work here if you think it’s dreary?’ 

Under his eyes, Magnus’ yellow hair shifted to a slightly more greenish colour, amusement twinkling in his eyes. 

‘Well I would need to make money somehow, wouldn’t I? How else would I be able to take cute boys out on dates?’ Alec’s mouth fell open as now, he didn’t have anything else to focus on except for the fact that this was the second time Magnus had referred to him as cute. It wasn’t even a second later when his heart skipped a beat, as Magnus dropped a glittery wink at him. Something in his stomach seemed to be fluttering around. It was a strangely pleasant feeling.  
His blush, which had just started to recede a bit, now returned full force. However, he could also see the tips of his hair shifting to a furious pink. If Izzy had been here, she would’ve surely made a comment on how his hair clashed with his face. 

‘I’m glad you’ve asked me out. Even if I’m not the best date,’ he murmured, a small smile appearing on his face. A small squeeze directed his attention back to where Magnus’ hand was still holding on to his. 

‘Don’t be ridiculous, you’re a fantastic date. Sweet and thoughtful.’

‘You’re a great date, too,’ Alec replied, smile growing. His chest felt bigger than before, and he could feel the fluttering in his stomach swelling to his throat. He’d never felt like this before. Not when he thought he’d been in love with Jace. Not when secretly stealing glances at handsome boys on the train. Magnus made his heart beat faster, skip beats. His breath came faster and his chest would swell.

He caught himself staring at Magnus’ lips as they curled into a smirk.

‘I have a great idea of how to make this date even better,’ the other boy said, voice almost purring. Before Alec knew what was happening, Magnus leaned over the small table, golden eyes locked on Alec’s as he came closer. He could feel the warm breath on his face as Magnus paused, waiting. Giving Alec a choice.   
A choice he didn’t have to think about. 

He pushed himself up and crashed their lips together. Magnus’ mouth was soft and supple under his own, lips warm and tasting of caramel coffee.

When he pulled back, both of them sported pink and yellow colours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter guys! I hope you liked the story!
> 
> Leave a comment to let me know if you want to!
> 
> xx

**Author's Note:**

> This might be edited later, but I'm not feeling like it right now. 
> 
> Don't know if this will have a second chapter...


End file.
